The Heart-less land Hypocracy in action

I got this forward yesterday about how the conviction in the scott peterson case proves legal precedence for the reversal of roe v. wade. Then they go on to tie it all up with the argument that an 8 month pregnancy is no different than an 8min one when it comes to terminating it. I am an open minded person, arguments could be made, as always my contention is that people of faith that where the overwhelming deciding factor in electing this president should use their actions and faith to fight for what they believe, not the constitution. How would they like it if Boeing decided to use their church to assemble nuclear missiles?

So then I started thinking, thinking about the heart behind this, here I am angry and wishing there were some way I could offend born-agains as much as they offend me with 'praise the lord' bumper stickers, and then I start feeling like a dick and a hypocrite. First I am angry for people trampling on my right to have different beliefs, where do I get off wanting to play the same game? second and more importantly, my big sister is a born-again Christian, so I can't declare war on something when I don't believe in war and on something precious to someone I love.

Then it hit me: War is murder, unsafe cars are murder, environmental destruction is murder. So the republicans have really pulled a fast one, on well meaning people. George convinced them that he was a good god fearing Christian, a bald faced lie if you ask me, and got them to vote for them, with the promised land of overturning roe v. wade, a victory for their most sacred issue.

He has killed 100,000 Iraqis, 1200 US troops, the environment, and our future. In an unrelated story they just upped the national debt limit to 70% of the value of our entire economy, looks like we are chasing the USSR into the economic grave.

So, how do I fight this battle? still working on it, but my first thought is to go after the support of people of faith, rather than fight them. Why? because technically true Christians SHOULD be fanatical supporters of most of the issues I support, all I need is for them to compromise on abortion and stay the fuck out of gay marriage but on nearly every other issue they should be lined up right behind me. #1 they should be very vocal anti-war protestors, if they were as fanatical about that as abortion, we would have no military at all, think about it. Of course, they really can't support the death penalty, while I am conflicted on that one, the large number of Christian right pro-life pro-death pro-war hypocrites really chap my ass.

So, you want to be a good Christian? I say go for it! don't be half assed, help your neighbor, give to the poor and appose anything that leads to the death of humans, that's what Jesus would do, he would have voted for Kerry, yup Kerry. Kerry would have stopped the killing as fast as he could and gotten out of Iraq ASAP, he would have signed the Kyoto treaty and as a bonus, while he cant make laws against gay marriage or abortion because both are in the realm of faith, not government, he is one of you, and would support those issues on a personal level, what could be better? the leader of the free world on your side all the way around.

But you voted for Bush?

Guess you are not so Christian after all.

Somethings wrong with the world today

As if that was news to anyone who can keep their own saliva from running out of their mouth onto the floor. But really, its like what used to seem extreme, outlandish, even crazy has become such a majority mindset in so many cultures that anyone that dare question its validity is to be shunned if not killed. We were watching that wife swap show last night, a born again traded with a jewish woman, how they each felt about their differences was just shocking to me, the jewish woman felt very uncomfortable in the bible group meeting and I am sure that if either of the other couple had gone to temple they would have felt like a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. But here I am, someone who doesn't believe in organized religion, having a hard time telling them apart, in fact, I had a philosophy teacher in college who was doing a quick overview of belief systems of the world and one of them he simply called JCI faiths short for Judao / Christian / Islamic - yes islamic too! the petty differences where not worthy of detailing in such a high level overview. They may be emotionally very important to people in those faiths, but overall they are all pretty much the same.

What is wrong with the world today is that not only is the emotional attachement to these differences among these groups so great that they have killed each other over it for thousands of years, but the most traditional interpretations of each faith preclude killing, they all defend their faiths which all include some form of thou shalt not kill, by, infact, killing each other in the process. On top of that, I get to pay for it! Whats really cute is how each is quick to point at the other as being totalitarian savages, Islamic fundamentalists kill 3000 inocent people in a horrific way using our own planes, Christain fundamentalists kill 100,000 + inocent 'brown' people using a straight laced and orderly military that is the property of the state. Lets face it, we just became the red coats, what because we shave our killing of civilians is just and dignified?

I'm not implying we shouldnt do something about the really bad people of the world, I am implying that we are using that as an excuse to use the resources of a freedom of religion founded country to basically fight a holy war, christians have found a way to kill islamic people without tarnishing their white gloves, if the real aim was to get rid of bin laden and saddam, we have the very best tools in the world for that. Just as an example, we have a 747 with a nose mounted laser system, one laser is a targeting mechanism the other is lethal, it can track a ICBM the B standing for bullistic or faster than the speed of sound, then when its safely away from the ground, cooks the thing down to nothing, harming no one. just how fast do you think saddam can run from his limo into his palace? and who would take his place? shit we could have loudspeakers saying in their native tounge "who would like to be next?"

So you might ask, why didnt we do that? 2 reasons we "dont assasinate people" its against our own laws to do it, we are however actually allowed to put out a contract and have the brits do it for us. right. but the real reason: just ask yourself how much Halliburton would stand to make of an operation like that? hmm, not so much, maybe they could supply lunch for the pilots. Plus then you have a country that still 'owns' itself and its oil, region is more stable instantly free trade becomes commonplace and damn it all to hell, oil prices drop, no, texas oil billionaire just cant have that either.

And the conservatives out there will see this as nothing but the rantings of a mad man, a mad man I tell you!

you people really scare me.

Maybe we need a new law, your IQ must be at least this high to vote, ah hell lets make it easier, must be this high to hold office. The mouth breather down at 7-11 has a higher IQ than monkey boy.

damn, really wanted to write an a-political blog today, still getting sucked in.

Well, I will finish with this, America has always defended itself against foreign and domestic threats to its foundation, just because you aren't going after our consitution with guns doesnt mean your not in for a fight, and as history serves, you will lose, bigtime.

Electoral College - Bad Math Meets the 21st Century

Man, That is a tough one. I guess I have always knee-jerk hated the electoral college system but one simple qwip made me see the wisdom in it 'True democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting on whats for dinner'. But now we have a larger problem, didn't that just happen? Not with the presidential election, That was electoral college all the way, the continental west coast and the north east couldn't overcome the heart(less)land. No, 2 wolves - straight christian fundamentalists and 1 sheep - Gays and the liberal pinko commies who support them got together and decided that it was sheep for dinner tonight.

So you are right, in some respects, we are far too large a nation for one person one vote, ask france to imagine a single european leader being elected that way, I think they would learn an American phrase very quickly 'um.....'

One small problem with the electoral college system, take a look at the map, this worked for the 13 colonies, they were all small, including Virginia, where I am stuck right now. I grew up in Alaska, 1/5th the size of the rest of the country 3 electoral votes, but the real problem is that overall as we moved west, states got larger. Add that to the capitol being out here and living out west makes you feel like, well, you don't really count in American governance, you just pay for it.

No easy solution, one state one vote? same problem, the east still runs the country. The only thing I can think of is to add geographic area as a third factor in the number of votes you get, that way perhaps Alaska and New York would have about the same vote.

How about more candidates? Lots more, I want 20 non-partisan choices in a primary thats open to everyone, 2 months of campaining for the top 5 choices, then an election and like the original consitution, #1 in votes is in the big chair #2 is the VP, can you imagine how much more dignified this election would have been if Kerry was now the VP instead of Cheney? Hell better you that one, #2 is the Chief of Staff and #3 is the VP. Now there is some unification. Play nice boys, you are going to work together no matter what, because, we say so, thats right, we the people, your boss!

(from: http://misercola.blogspot.com/2004/11/electoral-college.html)

another comment to a conservative site

OtherBlog

Wow! that was awesome! I gave kudos to your fellow conservative blogger misercola for not being stupid like every Bush supporter I have met, but you really deserve the trophy, that was by far the best pro-bush anti-kerry argument I have ever heard, and believe me I have heard them all. My least favorite being 'we need a ranch hand' as if 1) we do need a ranch hand in the oval office and 2) Bush is even close to being anything that could be called a ranch hand.

Just for the record I am anti-partisan and as I told your fellow concervative blogger, I have bashed religious people, southern people, republicans in general out of shear rage because the arguments and policies put forth of late have not only spit on us 'other people' but have really trashed the constitution.

If most of Bush's people and supporters where as reasonable as you he would have won by a landslide, I still wouldn't trust the guy, but I would believe that he really got elected both times and figure that at least those who put him in office weren't freakishly brain dead morons.

Kerry pissed me off too, I don't beleive in organized religion for myself, I have no problem with anyone elses that does not enchorage hate. Both he and George said 'god bless america' constantly, which told me 'uh, dave, that don't mean you' but that is their personal belief, well, that is if you believe that they actually beleive what they say, and I have to say, George doesnt believe in god at all, he is like every other former coke snorter, drunk driver - cum - born-again, if I just say I do and say I am sorry and repent, I get to get out of jail free AND I get to lord over all the other people who are still 'sinners' sorry that stuff just chaps my ass.

So the democratic party has lost, nay, nuked its own rudder and the republican party has made a religious, personal, moral issue - gay marriage - not only a political and legal one but one that is more important than terrorism? I am furious over this one, seriously this is semantics at its finest, so people of faith want to bless the WORD 'marriage' as their own, to only be used by men and woman bound in 'holy matrimony' FINE but because of this zeal over this word, my gay brother can't marry someone who will stick by him through thick and thin, he cant have them make choices for him when he is in a coma, or even see him, he can't get health insurance and share it with him, what does that have to do with your god? Call it a 'legal union' or whatever but don't ram your church down their throats, thats what the brits did, remember? The truth is that what those concervatives really want is to outlaw being gay, hell, they want to outlaw not being a christian, those people need to get dropped out of your party wings like a hot potato in favor of more moderate people such as yourself or the flames will be visible from space, lets face it most of us, most americans when you get right down to it are in the middle of the extremes that each party keeps touting, thats dangerous, we need the people in the middle to demand a middle out of both parties, just today I answered a democratic support survey, asking basically 'where did we go wrong?' and I told them, lay the hell off the extreme stuff, the fringe issues need to be debated on the floor of the house but the electoral flag waving issues need to be just that, all about the core values of what it is to be an american, the common ground, not the ground of your 'base' as George called a room full of fat cats. Republicans need to do the same, tell their party, slow down tonto, I don't like gay people either but we can't go making laws about it, thats unamerican!



We have to find a common ground, people like you and me, we must, you dont have to agree with my views to agree that we are in trouble here, people on both sides are very very angry and its not getting better when you hear that Bush won ohio by like 130,000 votes but just one county has 90,000 more votes than voters. I really WANT to believe that he was actually elected, but I just can't with facts like that. Republicans need to call for an investigation, side by side with 'the rest of us nut jobs' so that they can validate their guy, to say we are just being sour grapes just sprays liquid hydrogen on an open flame.

Keep up the blogging, your side is in power now, executive, judicial, legislative so you are in the drivers seat, what you say and do is going to steer where we go for at least 4 more years, the more of you that are like you, the better!

post to a conservative blog

otherblog

Thank you. Seriously, thank you. First let me say that I am truely anti-partisan and have gone both ways as it were. As a teenager I felt that I was a republican because I strongly supported the Grahamn-Rudman-Hollings act. I voted for Clinton once, then against him, never cared about his sexcapades. I have a lot of information about both Bushs and know that their seats in office have harmed me personally and I believe harmed what America used to be. I don't LOVE Kerry, like most Americans, his #1 attribute was 'he is not bush and he could win'. I have accumulated evidence for myself over many, many years that lead me to my convictions about what just happened and why.

So why do I thank you? me, joe blow fiscally conservative, morally liberal, thank you, just plain old, proudly conservative? because you aren't stupid. I can already tell that thinking is not something you consider a snobish northeastern 'liberal' pursuit but rather something everyone should try once in awhile, particularly when voting. I bet you voted for George Bush, knowing in your heart of hearts that you did your best to take in all the facts and pick the best guy for the job.

The bashing you see out there, including from people like me comes from a simple truth, just as myself as an example, you are the first person I have ever, met, read, heard about who supported either Bush who didnt sound like like you had lived on a steady diet of lead paint and glue fumes your whole life. Really, not joking, the justifications I have heard just make me ill.

If everyone who voted for Bush were like you, I would sleep well at night, I would think, man, I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw a barge but either I am wrong, or my fellow thinking americans who voted for him will reign him in when I am proven right, either way, I am in good hands.

But the truth is that if everyone from wackjob activist liberals to thinking people like me who will always vote for the best person for the job, regardless of party, are right, we are all very fucked, because your fellow conservatives will simply plater that big grin on their face and say 'see? now THAT is resolve, he ran us all into a brick wall at mach one and didn't even blink! - yee haaa!'

really hope there are more of you.

comment I posted on someone elses blog

From: someotherblog

ConservativeTimes: You and people like you, millions of you need to know that it doesn't matter if you dont understand, if you think that anything anti-bush must be the rantings of a mad man. without even breaking a sweat, MORE than half the country doesnt just dislike your monkey boy, they think that he is a terrifying moron barely capable of tieing his own shoes and I dont mean that figurativly, I mean I would bet that the spoon fed rich boy life he has had from birth combined with strings pulled so he doesnt have to even try, topped off with cocain and dwi habits have dropped this 'mans' IQ down to less than 70. I cant believe I am saying this but this guy is actually dumber than Dan Quale, a feat that I thought was totally impossible.

and that just how dumb he is, lets skip evil altogether, this isnt my blog.

so if you simply said, gee I dunno, seems like an ok guy to me, then I would feel bad for you that you are uninformed but what shocks the fuck out of me is that every single solitary bush supporter I have ever met rationalizes their support of him with the same exact mindless crap that comes out of his mouth. Yesterday I gave one of them the example of the fact that the Bin Laden family and the Bush family are close friends, and business allies, even investing in duh-byas first oil company Arbusto (um planning on going bust?) and their only reply was that they had heard that but 'yea, but its not true, so that doesnt count!' why? because we say so? wtf??? there is this mentality that if it was really that bad surely 'THEY' would have done something about it, the list goes on for miles! Bush won ohio by what 130,000 votes? one county alone has 90,000 more votes than voters? this isnt horseshit made up by pot smoking deadbeats these are simple facts that the average 3rd grader should be able to grasp and understand.

all I ask is that you people get your head out of your collective ass (tha'd be duh-bya) and question some shit for once, if you dont believe us, check out the facts, source the shit yourself.

I have no problem saying that Kerry's anti-gay anti-abortion personal stance bothered me, that his god bless america statements pissed me off, I have no problem what-so-ever questioning his intentions, his background, his voting record, because I'm not is stuge puppet, I am an american, I dont believe in god, I support, gay marriage, freedom of choice and this just in... I think AND I vote, with all of Kerrys foibles, its still a no brainer, just like voting for the dead guy instead of ashcroft.

Questionation nation or gallup poll of ME

questions taken from Lance (lancearthur.com) who:

Questions taken from an interview with Mark Morris in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, altered accordingly.

Best household chore: Fixing something that is broken, sounds redundant, as in why would you fix something that is not broken, but ask any Tim Allen fan and you will get a surprising answer. So when something in our house doesnt work anymore, I usually get to fix it, cleaning is fun, for, well, odd people, at least they seem odd to me, people like my sister, they like cleaning, they're odd, because, well, I say so. ok? so how do I come up with 'best' and 'chore' thats like 'best' and 'presidential candidate' dont know if best really applies in either. I digress, so fixing something around the house on a saturday morning (still have work hours on the brain, rest of the house has stayed up to the wee hours and will be out cold for some time) so, bored, house needs cleaning and fixing, need to do my share, quick, fix something! didnt get to those damn dishes but man can the garbage disposal kick some ass now! bonus: requires power tools, cant help it, there is still some real guy left under this taste for decorating sensitive 90s guy exterior. worst chore: fix someones computer, very satisfying if I actually do, but TRYING to do so and never getting there, that just blows especially come monday morning when I get to go to work and do more of the same, well sort of.

Fantasy career: wow, thats a tough one, I guess my top 2 still remain, ski instructor - something I did for 4 years in highschool, awesome job, very challenging, rewarding, fantastic perks, but pay scale that not even a burger flipper would envy and second place still holding strong, chief buyer for williams sonoma. Tried to hack my way into working for the chief buyer there when I lived in the bay area long ago, found that the only entrance to the company was one that I could have only afforded to do when I was 18, so I gave up on that dream and became a computer geek, probably my 3rd fantasy career, something I can do in my sleep, yet requires constant learning and allows me to eat without magically coming up with $200,000 to get a worthless degree. Scratch all that, secretly, I really just want to be a mad scientist, thats the job for me, scary fucked up hair, no stupid people and at the end of the rainbow I solve cold fusion and retire to barbados, er, or iceland, whichever my lovely and infinitely patient wife would prefer, after all the solution would likely end up coming from her anyway, in some idle passing of my work where she asks 'if its acting like that all the time, why not reverse the polarity?' - DOH!!!

Favorite place to shop: Home Depot, WAIT! now I am sure that this answer combined with the fixing things around the house answer really has the wrong image, trust me, I spend as much if not more time in Home Depot vexing over the different shades of yellow offered by Ralph Lauren and oogling the plantlife as I do looking at power tools, but really the reason I like to 'shop' there is that it is a wonderful trip down fantasy lane that lets me periodically dream about what it would be like to own a home, oh the things I would do...

however, if by 'shop' you mean 'actually buy' well that changes sharply, online of course, unless, naturally, there is anyway in hell I can have it now now now! otherwise, nearly everything I have was found online, car, house, wife, doctors, financial solutions, furniture etc.... wait! again stop jumping to conclusions now! I didnt go 'shopping' for a wife, nor did I troll the chat rooms, it just happened, by sheer pressure of Chaos theory and I happend to be online at the time. Yard sales, thrift shops and the online/offline reality of craigslist, should not be overlooked either.

It used to be so simple, 10 years ago, a much much shorter answer: Nordstrom, last I checked, they dont sell diapers or $20 work shoes.

Superstitions: Too much of a scientist, all superstitions are either false or scientifically proveable. I practice Reiki, which basically comes down to the analogy of jump starting a car so to speak, only the good battery is the life energy of the known universe and the bad battery is the living thing that doesnt feel so good and the jumper cables, well tha'd be me. For me there is no cosmic woo woo in it, just something that todays scientists couldnt possibly come up with the math to prove, that doesnt make it unreal any more than the earth is flat just because you cant see it from space. Psychic astrology, now heres one were I find it entertaining, may very well be proveable, yet, I really dont care, if you could fortel the future, then why would I rent the movie? how annoying is that? its like life stuck on fast forward, drives me nuts when people just want to find out how it turns out and in the process try to skip how it got there, why be born if someone can tell you that in your 39th year you will marry a herring named chester.

Morning routine: smooth jazz blaring, snooze. smooth jazz blaring, snooze. Fear of smooth jazz blaring, turn off alarm. sleep. wake up. Turn on shower, pee, weigh myself, blow my nose, sneeze or both. Stand in the shower for 5 min half asleep, not moving. Wash hair, rinse. Wash face with some Dr. Bronners eucalpytus or pepperment, rinse. awake now. wash various pits again, Dr. B. Rinse. stand, 3/4 awake 2min. turn the shower off. dry off. clean ears. cough, spit, sneeze, blow nose. brush teeth - braun oral b electric. Rinse, splash water on face, shave, - no cream - gillette sensor - no excel, doest work, doesnt last as long, costs more. weed wacking with eyebrow/nose hair trimmer. Pitt stick - mennen green clear stuff - no anti perspiriant, cant stand how it feels, doesnt work anyway. gel hair, fuss with hair, rinse hands, dry off, cologne cant remember the name smells woodsy, makes my wife smile, what more should it do?

iron. hate ironing, iron front of shirt and sleeves, put it on, iron slacks, put them on, wait, first draws, fairly easy then socks, dark, impossible to find match, takes forever, fucks up my whole day, yea, then ironing, which I hate. glasses, watch, kiss wifes ankle, think of patting wee one on the back, dont want to wake him, just look at him and smile, day is looking better.

downstairs, idle chat with not so wee one, shoes on, keys, wallet, cell phone, coat, errand junk (movie, bill, check, large wooden badger) 'have a good day at school' I say 'try to have a good day at work he says' 'bye' - 'bye'

car, cold start, annoying. look 12 times for short people behind me, start rolling. look at all the people out with their wee ones at the bus stops. Turn on radio, flip channels, try to act interested in public radio, switch to pearl jam cd. switch back to radio, flip channels, get lost in thought, and in traffic, sit. wait. roll. wait. roll. dream of living back in SF, taking bart to work or riding a bike (never did either, sat in traffic just like now, fantasy over) 50/50 stop at 7-11 get a twister roll with sausage, egg and cheese and decaf coffee or go straight to work, nuke water for tea, eat a breakfast bar or pop-tart.

think about working.

Evening routine:
As if, there's and oxymoron in our house. I guess its common for me to go grocery shopping, almost every evening, we live close to a good store so stopping on the way our going back out is easy. Then there is the sifting through the junkmail and bills and nastygrams, getting jamied and comfortable, trying to make something for dinner, often a team effort, eat way too late, then watch the obligitory television, cant resist scrubs, apprentice, biggest loser, and west wing, only been doing that kind of thing lately though. however, one thing is very routine, one of my favorite moments and I get one every day. I get on the other side of the gate in the kitchen and start making requests, soon fullfilled for my now almost 22 month old adorable boy, to grab his blue or yellow banky and come to the gate. Without prompting he hands me the banky, then puts his arms up, as I pick him up, with or without request, he kicks - so as to assist in the lifting as if he was swimming. then at his new altitude - 6 and a half feet, he gets kisses all around from the rest of the house, big brother, mommy, sometimes mahoot the cat. Then up the stairs and out like a light for both of us.

Favorite memento:

Favorite place in the house:

Best thing about being you:

What’s your reputation:

Favorite movie:

Book to recommend:

Your welcome mat:

Little big toy:

Last meal:

Technology item you can’t live without:

Idea of the perfect party:

Topic you wouldn’t bring up at a party:

Fictional character you most identify with:

Favorite decorating technique:

Thing in your house you’re fussiest about:

Procrastination technique:

Guilty pleasure:

What’s by your bedside:

Pets:

Recent purchase:

Always in the fridge:

Nagging injury:

Collections:

Fitness routine:

Recurring nightmare:

Idea of a perfect day: